You’re NEVER too old to learn something new. It’s an integral part of keeping us young. As for building a new career…why not ? Who says you’ve got to have a computer sciences degree or be a spotty-faced teenager with greasy hair and BO to become a successful programmer ? (OK…you lot, you’ll forgive me this stereotyped barb…won’t you ?) At your age, enhancing your wealth of experience with a skill such as programming will be a huge asset to any organisation. Just remember that you’ll have to look at how you secure employment a little differently, because although the age discrimination act forbids employers from specifying age criteria, it won’t stop them from filtering out CV’s from candidates with little on-the-job experience. So, when you begin the process of applying for jobs, take a slightly more unconventional (or creative) perspective in order to get past first base; and that might mean making this newly acquired skill part of a broader portfolio of skills that you offer.

Where I work I often overhear my managers after they’ve interviewed potential candidates. They love people who program simply because they enjoy it… Its useful to build up a little portfolio of work and code snippets that you could show to potential employers to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of this field. Tell them you are willing to start from scratch and be prepared for a LOT of hard work, fixing hard bugs and looking over other people’s code. I was in the same situation as you – a lot older than most raw graduates, and the first 6 months in a commercial environment was tough, but it gets easier eventually. In the interview dont make an issue of your age, just continue being enthusiastic about your programming.

Good on you, BUT you need to be a realist. Sadly in many areas of corporate UK culture, software and programming are considered a ‘young mans’ occupation. Whilst it may be illegal and unstated, if you seek to be a programmer employee you will undoubtedly smell ageism at every turn in the UK, the recruitment agencies and employers alike. I would suggest you will find it almost impossible to find any company who will employ you in the capacity of a junior programmer for example. I am not condoning this in any way, this is the realism of corporate UK. Recognising that, you will need to consider other paths. I would concur with other posts here, if it is Java you wish to pursue, then don’t waste time with Software Degree(s), go straight after Sun Certified Java qualifications, self teach yourself and self-improve (this is important), look at other peoples Java code and see their approaches to solving problems and build up a portfolio. A good way of getting a decent and more importantly interesting portfolio is via the open source development community. By their very nature, this is where, applications of current topical interest are being pursued. Find one or a number of developments and get actively involved. In many respects there is no greater experience nor recognition than having you name associated with an open source development which itself is being widely adopted by the user community. So keep that in mind and go concentrate on the current/upcoming uses/applications of Java, rather than the ‘staid’ corporate operations type stuff. One example is the mobile Java things, itself being driven by the now rapid convergence of phones and pc’s. There is a whole potential market for Java applications on smartphones that is needed and it has hardly started yet. It is potentially much easier to land contract even employed work from these types of newer startup companies than from stuffy corporate UK. Hope this helps.